Pufnstuf

Pufnstuf (1970)

A musical adventure of Double-Stuffed proportions!

Jimmy (Jack Wild) ventures to Living Island with his magical, talking flute, Freddy. Once there, he befriends many of the island's inhabitants, but the evil Witchiepoo (Billie Hayes) is determined to steal Freddy the flute away from the boy to impress the visiting Witches' Council and win the Witch of the Year Award.

Date of release
1970-05-13
TMDB
6.2 / 10 (29)
Runtime
1h 34m
Genres
Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Music
Director
Hollingsworth Morse

Casting

Interesting facts

Pufnstuf is a 1970 American comedy fantasy musical film produced by Sid and Marty Krofft Enterprises and released by Universal Pictures. It is based on the children's television series H.R. Pufnstuf, a show that features a cast of puppets on a "living island."

Production

Prior to the debut of H.R. Pufnstuf, Sid and Marty Krofft announced in May 1969 their intentions to produce a feature film based on the series.

Following the success of the H.R. Pufnstuf television series, the film was rushed into production for theatrical distribution, with filming beginning in January 1970. The film was financed by Universal Pictures and Kellogg's Cereal, also a sponsor of the television show.

Sid Krofft cast his next-door neighbor, singer Cass Elliot, as Witchiepoo's frenemy and bitter rival Witch Hazel. According to actress Joy Campbell McKenzie, Elliot was "very distant. Not rude or arrogant but she just didn't mingle, which most people were surprised about."

Martha Raye was cast as Boss Witch. The cast and crew expected Raye to behave as a diva, but she instead befriended those behind the scenes, even inviting them to dinner. However, Wild referred to Raye as "a right old cow." Raye's involvement in Pufnstuf led to her role as Benita Bizarre in the Kroffts' television show The Bugaloos. The film was released in San Antonio, Texas on June 3, 1970.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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